Luminous tube sign



Sept. 14, 1937. l. v. MANSELL.

LUMINOUS TUBE SIGN Filed May 20, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR 3mg? 6Mnmsvs Sept. 14, 1937.

I. V. MANSELL LUMINOU'S TUBE SIGN 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed May 20, 1936 i mATTO R N EY5 Patented Sept. 14, 1937 stas- 4 Claims. (01. 40-433) Thisinvention relates to a luminous tube sign, more particularly those ofthe type which are commonly called neon signs, although the luminoustubes do not necessarilyinclude neon 5 gas as other rare gases are used,such for example as argon, helium, etc., but it is common in the tradeto call them all neon signs.

Luminous tube or so-called neonf signs as they have generally beenconstructed up to the present time are rather crude and clumsy inappearance. Also, in these signs the daytime sign efiect'and appearanceis marred in the present general practice of mounting the luminous tubeswith their necessary attachments on the faces, or that is on the outsideof the sign, and these tubes are generally spaced some distanceforwardly "of the surfaces of the sign panels. Also another detractionfrom the daylight appearance of these signs is the holes in the faces ofthe sign required for the tube electrodes and housings. Further, thepresent practice of placing the trans formers inside of the signtogether with the electrodes projecting inwardly necessitates a bulkybox construction due to underwriter requirements for proper spacing ofthe electrodes, which in the case of a double faced sign requiresa'thickness of about twelve inches from face to face of the sign.Another objection is that night time appearance and eifect of theseexisting neon signs are marred by the halation or blending of light fromtube to tube, and also by the distortion in the letters and advertisingmatter when the sign is viewed from any lateral angle (that is, not fromdirectly in front) due to the necessary tube double backs used informing the letters and other characters, which double backs must bebent in a difierent vertical or horizontal plane from the plane of themain portion of the letter or character.

4 constitutes a great advance and improvement in the old type of sign,and whereby there is combined in one and thesame sign a nighttimeappearance eliminting halation and distortion, and bringing out improvedluminous tube eifects. Also, there is secured a daylight. appearance notonly unmarred by tubes and tube appurtenance obstruction, but on theother hand one which is actually enhanced in appearance and effect bythe crystalline showing of the tubes made possible It is therefore anobject of my invention to I both daylight as well as nighttime qualitiesover by the novel arrangement of the tubes within the sign.

.With these and other objects in view the in-' vention comprises certainnovel features of'con- 7 struction and arrangement ofparts as will bemore fully disclosedin connection with the accompanying drawings. Itwill, however, be understood-that I am not limited to the exact de-.

tails of construction inthe drawings but may use modified constructionsand arrangements within the principles of .the invention.

In these drawings:

Fig.1 is a front elevation of the sign involving my invention, a portionof the front panel 'being broken away to more clearly showthe'construction;

Fig, 2 is an elevation showing one way in which this sign may bemounted; 7 i

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of one of the characters of the sign;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section thereof; Y

Fig. 5 is'a transverse section substantially on line 5-5 of Fig. 6 andshowing one arrangement of tubes which may be used;

Fig. 6 ma front elevation of aportion of the panel; 5 Fig. 7 is a vlewsia slightly diifere'nt use;

Fig. 8 is a central section showing another ar- 7 ,7 30 Fig. 9 is afront elevation showing how the inj yention canbe applied'to anothersign;

rangement of tubes;

Fig. lO-is a partial longitudinal section and a partial elevation of thesign of Fig. 9; p

Fig, 1 1 is a section substantially on the line H -ii of Fig. l butshowing both ofthe panels in section; 1 v

Fig. 12 is a transverse section showing one -method of mounting thetubes;

Fig. 13 is a detail section throughthe panel and luminous tube takenacross a stroke of a letter; Fig. 14 is a-rear elevation of one of thesmall 7 letters of the sign offFigs'. Sand 10;- Fig. 15 is a sectionsubstantially on line of Fig. l4; V a f Fig. 16 is a s ction similarto'Fig. '13 showing another arrangement of tubes; and

.Fig. 17 is a section through a sign showing another way that the tubesmay be arranged.

The completed signs shown are doubled faced signs, and the faces may beof glass or acombina-l T 1 orgies milarto' Fig. s but showing tion ofglass and metal or other suitable material. 7

The signo'fFig. -1 shows how my invention'may be used for asignincluding both letters and a design, while the sign of Figs, 9 and 10shows it as used for a sign composed mostly of letters. On the faces orpanels in each instance is formed in color and diagram the advertisingor display matter of the sign. This, of course, may vary greatly both asto color and configuration depending upon the advertising matter to bedisplayed, the two signs shown on the drawings being taken merely by wayof example to disclose my invention and merely indicate in outline andconfiguration the standard type of sign used for two well knownproducts.

Referring first to Fig.1 it will be noted the sign is of circular shapeand comprises two spaced panels and 2 I, these being shown in thepresent case as of glass, but as indicated above may be of a combinationof metal and glass or of other .suitable materials. As shown in Fig. 11they are spaced apart to provide a suitable space for the luminous tubesof the sign and may be supported in this position by any suitableconstruction. That shown has been found to be very satisfactory andcomprises two ring shaped members. 22 of metal or other suitablematerial having body portions 23 extending laterally in oppositedirections with inwardly extending flange portions 2 at the outer edgethereof and outwardly extending flanges 25 at their inner edges placedback to back and connected by ring 26 of U-shape in cross sectionextending inwardly from the free edges of these flanges and embracingthem to hold them together. The members may be connected together by anysuitable means such as the bolts 2?. It will be seen that this construction is a very simple one and permits easy suspension of the sign as bybrackets 23 secured to these ring shaped members and adapted to suspendthe sign from any suitable support such as a cross arm '29 on a post 30.

On each of the panels of this sign is a word such as that made by theletters 3! and a design such as the star 32. The letters are eachcomposed of one or morestrokes 33 on the panel for daylight visibility,these strokes being contrasting with the background 3 l'so as to bereadily visible. This stroke portion 33 may be colored as desired andmay be either opaque or translucent, but is preferably substantiallyopaque,

usually formed by suitable paint applied to the surface of the panel.Within the outline of the stroke and running longitudinally thereof is aclear strip or window 35 preferably formed by leaving a portion of theglass uncovered, and it is also preferably located at the center of thestroke and extends through all the strokes of each letter or character,as the letters or pictorial design and characters may be constructed inthe same manner. I have used theword character in the specification andclaims in a generic sense as meaning either a letter or other design. In

the letters as shown this transparent window is of the general shape ofthe letter so that when it is illuminated by itself it shows the letteror design. It may be of the full width of the stroke of the letter oroutline of a design, but preferably, particularly when used in a letter,it is of less width than the width of the stroke of the letter so thatthe stroke is clearly visible in daylight independently of thistransparent window, but in the outline of designs, and as for examplethe star of Fig. '1, this transparent strip or window may be of widthequal to the width of the stroke or it may be of less width as desired.Immediately back of this transparent strip or window is a glass tube 36,and this tube follows the length and as the visible portion of the tubeis of the transparent strips. It is preferred that the width of thesetransparent strips be of subthe clear strip is of substantially thewidth of the strip, the tube when illuminated will be clearly andsharply outlined by the sharp edges of the clear strip so that halationabout the surface of the tubes is cut off, making a clear and distinctoutline of any letter or character which is much more clearly andsharply visible or sharply outlined than would be the bare tube.

Another very material and distinct eifect of this construction andarrangement is that light is deflected from the tube in daylight throughthe transparent strip or panel whereby the appearance of the letters ordesign is greatly enhanced as the tube shows of a generally crystallineappearance, or a silver effect which gives a very attractive anddistinct appearance by daylight.

There are several ways in which these improved daylight and nighteffects can be secured. Thus the tubes themselves may be luminous tubescontaining the rare gas or gases such as neon, argon, etc. as shown at35 in which the entire word Texaco is formed from a single tube 36, andhas electrodes mounted in its opposite ends 37 which may be connecteddirectly by suitable vmeans to a transformer 38, or, if other words ordesigns are used, they may be connected in a series with them. Thus inthe sign of Fig. 1

there are three luminous tubes, the tube 36 being i used for the wordTexaco, a second tube 39 being-used for the star outline, and a thirdtube 4!) being used for a colored translucent band or border ii, andthese tubes are all connected in series, thatis one of theleads 32 fromthe transformer leads to one end of the tube 36. another lead 43 leadsfrom the other end of this tube to one end of the tube 39, a lead 44leads from the' other end of tube-39 to one end of the tube 4G, and

a lead 45 from the other end of this tube leads to "the transformer. I

There are severaladvantages from this construction and arrangement asidefrom the improved daylight and nighttime visibility as above described.It will be evident that as the tubes are all enclosed within the signthey are fully protected both from the weather and in handling,

determined by the transparent strips or windows 35 the entire tube maybe bent in a single plane as indicated in dotted lines Fig. 1, andtherefore, double backs in diiferent vertical or horizontal planes arenot required andmuch less space is required for the tube in thedirection of thick-- ness of the sign. The same is true of the tubes forthe design outline of the star or other designs, and therefore the signmay be made much thinner than the old constructions, the sign shown notbeing required to be greaterin thickness than about 3 inches as comparedwith the old sign 5 of a thickness of about 12 inches. The tubes may bemounted within the sign in any suitable way. For example the outer tubeor for that matter any of the tubes where they extend adjacentto theouter frame may be supported by the hanger of the type shown in Fig. 11comprising a suitable 'insulatorAG having a threaded stem 4'! embracedby coil spring 48 secured by any suitable means such as a screw 49 tothe frame. This forms a yielding cushioning support for the tube andprotects it from breaking,

jar, etc. and also permits adjustment by screwing the spring more orless on to the stem 47. Another manner of supporting the tube is shownin Fig. 12, in which :may be molded on. the: back of the glass panelV-shaped lugs 56, in the recess of which the tubeindicated at may beseated and then secured in position by suitable wires 52 extending overthe tube in any suitable recesses or grooves 53, in the lugs, or thetube may be mounted by a suitable cement as indicated at 54 in Fig. 15,or a combination of cement and wires as indicated at 54 and 55 in Fig.14.

It will be evident that different arrangements and designs of color andoutline may be used. Thus in the sign of Fig. 1 the background 34 V isof opaque white paint so that it gives a white background for theletters and star in the daytime but a dark background for theilluminated tubes at night. In the letters St the stroke 33 is of blueand may be either opaque or translucent to form a background for thetransparent strip or window 35. The stroke is preferably outlined by ablack border to separate it from the background. However, the stroke 32for the outline ofthestar is preferably confined to the transparentstrip or window as shown in Figs. 1 and '7, although this transparent orclear strip may be in a daylight stroke 56 of a greater width than thistransparent window, if desired, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The centralportion of the sign is also bordered or enclosed by a relatively narrowor. translucent border 4| which is illuminated by the tube 55 followingthe stroke of the border, and in the present instance is dark red,although it may be of any other color. Thus the design, letters, or thatis the characters,

may be of one or more translucent strokes without the clear strip anduniformly illuminated by the luminous tube which follows the stroke orstrokes, that is extends longitudinallyof the stroke for its full lengthand is located immediateiy back of it. The body of star 5'! is also darkred while the letter T, indicated at 58, is.

green. This merely shows that difierent colors may be used as desired.

In the sign of Figs. 9 and there is no design outside of the words. Inthis sign the upper and lower panel portions 59 are translucent and redin color while the central band or the background 63 is white andopaque. The daylight stroke 6| may be of any color contrasting with thisbackground, that shown being blue. Within the strokes of these letters,the same as in the form of Fig. 1, are the transparent strips or windows35 with the glass tube 62 back of them as in the first form. V

The tubes may be arranged in various ways and also the tubes may ofthemselves be luminous, as where they are filled with the rare gasesbecoming luminous by passage of electric current, or the tube may beilluminated indirectly from other directly illuminated tubes. In eithercase substantially the same effect is secured particularly in daylightappearance, although for night appearance the tube indirectlyilluminated may not be quite as bright as the directly illuminated tube.

Thus, for example, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the directly illuminatedtube may be located directly back of the transparent strip or panel 35.This arrangement is used particularly where the design is such that itis difierent from opposite sides. In other words it will be evident thatthe word Texaco would have to be reversed on the other or rear panel 2!of the sign and therefore a luminous tube is used for each word. In thecase of the star,. however which appears the same from both sides of thesign, either one or two tubes may be used as desired. In Fig. 1'7 asingle tube 39 is shown in the center 'of thesign so'as to be visiblethrough the transparent outline strip of the star, or there may be aluminous tube 39 for each outline on the panels as shown in Fig. 8.Another arrangement for such a design may be that shown in Figs. 5 and 6where two non-luminous tubes 63 may be positioned immediately back ofand in alignment with the transparent outline 63 of the star with asimilarly shaped central tube 35 between them, this central tubecontaining rare gas and being luminous so that it illuminates the twotubes 53. In this View the outline of the design is shown as having thedaylight stroke 55 contrasting with the backgrounds 5'! and 33 ofgreater width than the transparent strip 54, but in Fig. '7 the daylightstrip 56 is omitted so that only the clear strip 5 1 is used for theoutline of the design within the backgrounds 51 and 35.

If it is desired to have an extra wide transparent strip or window 35 or34 there may be two or more glass tubes 36 back of it as shown in Fig.l6,these tubes being either luminous or illuminated from other tubes andbeing placed side by' side so that together they, are substantially thesame width as the clear strip orwindow 35 and 54.

In the signofFigs. 9 and 10 as the panels 59 are translucent they areilluminated by separate tubes 51. Theremay be in these panels smalldesigns such as the words 68, 59. These letters have the strokes iiicontrasting with the background 59 for daylight visibility thesame asfor the larger letters indicated at 33, and they also have transparentstrips or panels '5! in'these strokes the same as the larger letters.Also 10- 1 cated back of these transparent windows or strips are glasstubes 12 which may be luminous or illu- -,minated from other tubes asdesired. As shown they are short tubes one for each letter and are notluminous but are illuminated by the tube 61 forthe panels 59 and thetubes 62 for the large letters at the center of the sign.

This new type of sign besides having an improved visibility and effectfor both daylight and nighttime as indicated above, can be made muchthinner so as to beof greater compactness, and the tubes are allprotected by being enclosed within the sign instead of being on theoutside as in the old type of sign. When they were on the outside thesign gave a different efiect when viewed from different on the outsidethe handling to prevent mounting. This new pleted and sealed up beforeit leaves the factory, and with ordinary handling the tubes are notlikely to be injured, therefore, barring accident, should operate foryears without service. As the transformer is not mounted in the sign itcan be mounted on an extension of the arm 29 on the other side of post30 from the sign. Thus the transformer can be used as a counterweightfor the sign permitting the use of lighter mounting construction. v

It will be evident the main features of the invention are the improvedarrangement and -com-. bination of the properly formed luminous orilluminated tubes with the properly prepared sign' faces or panelswhereby I secure theimproved daylight and night effect as abovedescribed. The

angles, and also as the tubes were sign required very careful V breakagein shipping and; type of sign can be com-' panels are made up to sizeand shape as desired. The design display matter may consist of letters,figures, characters, diagrams, etc. in colors as desired both fordaylight and night showing. This display matter on the panels includesthe transparent or clear section or strip in the center of the opaque ortranslucent stroke contrasting with the background for improved daylightvisibility, and this transparent strip being of substantially the samewidth as the diameter of the tube. Thus when the luminous or illuminatedtubing is secured in place either on or directly in back of thetransparent portion when the tube is illuminated at night it is shownwith a clear and sharp outline thereby eliminating halation or tendencyto blur which is a serious objection of the present type of neon sign.The tubing therefore stands out sharply and in its true color in thisnew sign and can be read easily at much greater distances. This tube inback of this transparent strip in the center of the strokes gives a verydistinct and. added attraction for daylight sign efiect due to thecrystal or silver-like appearance of the glass tubing; as'it reflectsexternal light rays through the transparent portions.

Where it is desired to have a subdued effect or a different shadingforthe nighttime showing of certain portions of the sign, this effect canbe obtained by forming these portions translucent in the proper colorinstead of transparent. 7

These signs have the advantage of lower first or manufacturing cost overthe old type of signs of the same size due to the fact that they requireless material of various kinds, such as tubing, electrodes, electrodehousings, metal, wire and accessories, and less labor in bending thetubing and building and assembling the sign. They also have lessinstallation cost as it is of much less weight and therefore does notrequire as heavy a pole and hanging bar or other hanging equipment. Theyalso have less operating cost as they require less footage of tubing toaccomplish the same or a better result therefore requiring lesselectrical current to operate it. There is also less service cost as thetubing, electrodes, etc. are enclosed within the sign whereby they areprotected. 7

Having thus set forth the tion, what I claim is:

1. In an electric sign, a plane glass plate having character strokesthereon contrasting with a background to give daylight visibility with aclear strip of the glass within said strokes extending longitudinallythereof and of less width than the stroke, and a luminous glass tubeimmediately back of the glass following and in alignment with the clearstrip so as to be visible therethrough and of a width equal to at leastsubstantially the width of the strip.

2. In an electric sign, a plane glass plate having a character strokeincluding a clear strip through the glass and a portion contrasting witha background for daylight visibility, and a luminous tube immediately tothe rear of the strip of a width equal to at least substantially thewidth of the strip and in alignment therewith so as to be visible fromthe front of the plate.

3. In an electric sign, a plane glass plate having a character strokecontrasting with a background for daylight visibility, a luminous tubeimmediately to the back of the glass plate following the characterstroke, and a clear strip through the glass of the character strokefollowing the tube and of a width not substantially greater than that ofsaid tube so that said tube is visible from the front of the plate.

4. In an electric sign, a plane glass plate, a character thereonincluding a portion contrasting with a background for daylightvisibility and a clear strip through the glass, and a luminous tubeimmediately to the rear of the strip and in alignment therewith so as tobe visible through the strip from the front of the plate, and said clearstrip of a width not substantially greater than said tube.

nature of my inven- IRVING V. MANSELL.

